By JIM HAROLD
They say that young kids can see things grownups don’t see or can’t see. They’re more imaginative and closer to the veil. Well, I don’t have many memories from my early childhood, but there is one that is clear as day. I was five or six years old. My room faced our backyard. We had a wooded area in the back, and a single street lamp outside illuminated it somewhat, but not too much.
This particular night, I had been in bed for a while but couldn’t sleep. I turned my head to look out into the yard and noticed a black mass outside. I couldn’t make out what it was. It seemed humanoid, but that was all I could make out. One thing I do remember distinctly was that it seemed to suck the night into it. It seemed blacker than everything else around it. I watched this thing in the backyard, and I realized it was coming toward my window! I kept my eyes on it because I wasn’t sure what I was seeing. The next thing I knew, it was right at my windowsill. My house was about three feet off the ground, and the window was higher than that. This thing somehow leaped through my closed window and into my room. As a little kid, I pulled my covers up to my head and watched this thing stroll into my room. The lamp stayed on, and I watched this black figure go around the corner of my bed into the hallway, and it just disappeared. This really happened, and it kept happening! About a week later, it happened again. It was the same exact experience.
The third time was very similar, except my lamp went out, but I could still see whatever it was. The next time it happened, it came into the window again, but this time, it was different. It didn’t go into the hallway as it usually did. It went and stood over me for a minute. The feeling I got from it, I still can’t really describe. It didn’t feel evil, but it didn’t feel great either. It was in the middle of the road, I guess. I could feel the presence of it, and it seemed to just stare right down through me. Then I felt the presence leave, and I didn’t know what to make of that. So I didn’t say anything to my parents.
It happened again for the last time, and things got really personal. I could see it coming through the backyard again, the same as before. It came and leaped up into my window. Of course, this time, I was so frightened when it had been staring down at me that I pulled the covers over my head. I didn’t want to see it, and I could feel it come straight toward the bed again. The next thing I knew, I felt like I was being wrapped up. I don’t even know what I would call it. It felt like I was being encased in a cocoon or something like that. It was really weird, really creepy. I swear to you, the next thing I knew, this thing just started rubbing my sides and was tickling me all over. I didn’t really know what to make of it. I’m ticklish as it is, so I couldn’t stop it, or try to fight it, or anything.
The next thing I remember is waking up the following day and seeing my dad outside mowing the grass. I honestly don’t remember falling asleep. I don’t know anything else. That was actually the last time that I ever saw anything of it. I still get the feeling that something was around my house occasionally, but I’ve never seen it again. To this day, I still have no idea what to make of the real-life tickle monster.
If you are new to our Campfire series, you can jump in right here. Each book is a compilation of our best stories, and each stands alone. We cover ghosts, shadow people, after-death visitations, cryptids, UFOs, psychic phenomena and much more. We find it all fascinating. Grab some marshmallows and your favorite beverage. Sit for a while by our Campfire.
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